


Together, I Promise

by TwistedSamurai



Category: Prince of Stride (Video Game), Prince of Stride: Alternative (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Boys Kissing, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hospitalization, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Injury Recovery, M/M, Serious Injuries, Shizumas injuries, kids in love, slight romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:15:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27679274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwistedSamurai/pseuds/TwistedSamurai
Summary: It was supposed to be a harmless prank. Some water dumped on his head from the shelf. But one small bump, and Reiji can see everything in slow motion. Feel the harsh push, hear the crash. He wishes he could have moved faster- done something to try and help. But it's too late as he turns to face Shizuma.A small fic on how Shizuma got injuried and Reiji's promise to find some way to run with him again. Even if he has to run for him.
Relationships: Mayuzumi Shizuma/Suwa Reiji
Kudos: 5





	Together, I Promise

A harmless prank was all it was supposed to be. A bucket of water, some shelves- and a ladder. They just meant to dump it on his head for a good laugh, as pay back for the time he had dumped one on them a few weeks ago with Asuma. That was what it was meant to be- but a small nudge of the ladder and the shelves wobbled. The young body couldn’t keep steady, couldn’t do more than jump off and try to scream for him to get out of the way in terror.

It was supposed to be a harmless prank. But it wasn’t.

It all happened in slow motion in front of his eyes, every time he closed them and thought back. Even the sound of the bookshelves creaking and the warning shouts from the people around him. Reiji doesn’t know how to react. He can’t do more than turn to look over his shoulder as a few books fell from the falling shelf. He remembers one of them clearly. The Dancing Girl, by Mori Ogai. It lands near his feet.

There’s a presence right beside him. Close- too close. He hits the ground before he can say anything; and he lays stunned for a moment before he realizes what exactly happened and rolls over in a hurry. The thud of the hand falling off his thigh and hitting the wood floors is cut off by him crying out Shizuma’s name.

Reiji tries to move the shelf off of him, snapping at whoever is around them to get an adult. To help him. For Shizuma to move. Open his eyes. But there’s no answer from the pink haired teen from where’s trapped. Not even the flutter of lashes or the twitch of a hand. It makes his blood run cold. He can see people running over and here someone calling for a paramedic. But he refuses to leave Shizuma’s side.

If he had moved out of the way, or he had pushed Shizuma back, he wouldn’t be laying under the shelf. He would squeeze Reiji’s hand and it wouldn’t be limp in his own. Reiji doesn’t remember the last time he cried over something since he was a little kid, but he sobs softly as he calls for Shizuma to answer him. Something, anything, he doesn’t care. It’s his fault his friend is like this, so he needs to open his eyes, to tell him he’s alright.

His parents show up as the shelf is moved and paramedics crouch beside Shizuma. Reiji is pulled away, his mother hugging him tightly and whispering that he would be alright. Asuma is holding his father’s hand, gripping it tightly as he looks away from where Shizuma is being put on the stretcher to where Reiji is standing, but the shame of it keeps him from looking at those grey eyes.

Asuma doesn’t blame him, and that’s far worse than if he did. The kid who had been trying to pour water on him is wailing- the fall caused damage to them too. But Reiji can’t even focus on them and in all honesty he doesn’t care if they get in trouble or not. He only stares as Shizuma is carefully put onto the stretcher and into the waiting ambulance. His parents drive behind it, and Asuma is riding with his own parents leaving Reiji curled up in the backseat of the car alone.

It’s a long wait to find out what happened. The adults talk in quiet whispers and make runs for coffee and food. But Reiji doesn’t eat anything. They check him over as well, make sure there isn’t anything serious even though he promises that he’s perfectly fine and concerned about Shizuma. The nurses promise he can see him when the doctor is finished, but they don’t tell him when that will be.

Asuma brings him a tea, and Reiji simply holds the styrofoam cup it in his hands. He can feel the tears welling up again as he looks up at the black-haired teen staring at him. “I… I’m so sorry, Asuma.” He whispers. Reiji isn’t sure why he does it, but he can hear the adults whispering as well and doesn’t want to raise his own voice to be heard by them. When Asuma starts to protest he cuts him off again. “If I had moved faster, or pushed him back, he wouldn’t have been under the shelf, and he wouldn’t be here, and-”

“Woah woah… Reiji, I don’t blame you. Someone hit the ladder or something that the other kid was on. It wasn’t your fault at all. Shizu jumped in to help you out. It’s… He’ll be fine, you know him. He’s probably going to welcome us into his room and then ask you a million questions to see if you’re okay.” Asuma is putting on a brave face for him, and Reiji gives a small smile in thanks before they both fall into silence again.

There’s no sign of the doctor, he doesn’t want to think about why their taking so long to check over Shizuma. Or why when the nurse comes back she is asking his parents if they want to go in… He turns back to the window when Asuma is asked if he would like to join them. Violet eyes widen in surprise when Asuma asks if he can bring Reiji with him. “I… Don’t want to go without our best friend. Shizuma would say it’s rude.”

There’s a small moment of hesitation from the nurse before the parents are all agreeing and Asuma pulls Reiji from the chair he’s curled up in to come with him down the hall. “Your brother is sleeping right now… He might be for a few days.” The nurse says gently before she starts to explain in detail to the adults about what is happening. Reiji can’t make sense of half of it. But the half he does understand is enough to stop him outside the door to Shizuma’s room and hold the now cold cup of tea like it’s a lifeboat in a storm. There has to be some mistake in what he understood. There’s no way they’re right, that this is how it is.

But he can see into the room. Shizuma is sleeping, looking peaceful and like nothing can disturb him. Reiji feels the cup break in his grip, and hears the nurse telling him it’s alright and asking if he’s okay but Reiji moves forward without answering her. His legs don’t stop until he’s beside the bed and looking down at the pink hair falling over the sheets like pale silk.

“… Reiji.” There’s a warm hand on his shoulder. “… I know you three were getting into that... Stride club. But, I don’t think…” The gruff words trail off, and Reiji speaks through them.

“No. No he has to get up again. Shizuma loves running. He loves it.” Reiji whispers, looking up at Shizuma’s father and shaking his head. “You’re his father. Please tell them they're wrong. Shizuma loves running he can’t-…. He can’t be stuck in a wheelchair-” He cuts off the words as he fall into the chair beside Shizuma’s bed. He can hear the doctor explaining things but he’s too busy fighting back his sobs to listen.

Shizuma doesn’t wake up even when they’re leaving, and Reiji asks if he can come back to visit. He comes back every day when he isn’t at school or doing any extracurricular. There’s a comfortable chair in the room just for him, and the staff all learn his name. But Shizuma sleeps through the first few visits. Reiji can’t stand the quiet and talks to Shizuma while he does his homework. About the problems he’s working on, about how his day was.

Both his and Shizuma’s parents visit, with and without Asuma. But the one constant is him. Every day he’s there. Every day he walks down the hall, and waves at the staff he passes before sitting in the chair they put in there for him and opens his bag. Textbook in his lap as he starts to work, and then talk when the sound of the machines bothers him.

One day, he’s telling Shizuma about how he’s been working with Asuma to learn everything they can about Stride, to find a way for him to join them and do the job of a relationer. How he could do it when he got back on his feet again. He's always had a talent for reading people, Reiji has no doubt he would be amazing at it. Nothing unusual just the steady hum of the machines and beeping to accompany Reiji’s quiet voice while staff walk by. One lady even offers to get him a snack, but he politely refuses.

It’s the smallest sound. But he knows he’s heard it. A small noise- almost between a groan and a hum of agreement, he can't tell which- and Reiji’s pen jolts across the paper. It ruins an entire paragraph, but he doesn’t care as he lifts his head to look at half asleep pained grey eyes. There’s no movement for a moment, as Shizuma blinks slowly, and Reiji jumps to his feet, screaming for the nurse.

He’s pushed back as the staff crowd into the room. But Reiji doesn’t care all that much. He can only think about how Shizuma looked at him, half asleep and hurt and he feels numb. While he knew it must have been painful, that his body had been sleeping to recover, he didn’t expect to see such raw pain in his eyes.

“You can sit with him later… Your parents are here to pick you up.” One of the nurses grabs his attention and Reiji feels alarm welling up. Fear- he doesn’t want to leave Shizuma alone he only just woke up. But there’s no way they’ll listen to him and he looks over to the bed as there's a small cough.

“Reiji.” Shizuma’s voice is a whisper, and Reiji shakes a little as he walks over to the edge of the bed, grabbing the hand that’s reaching for him. “Reiji I’ll be fine. You look exhausted, go home and get some rest. Please.” He’s never seen Shizuma look so worried for him before, and Reiji swallows back his emotions. Shizuma needs to see he’s strong here. Worrying about him will only cause more problems, and he slowly nods.

“I’ll come back.” He promises before he’s being led out to his parents. He keeps his word, leaving school early to rush to the hospital. The staff tell him to be quiet and Shizuma will wake up in his own time as they let him into the room.

Reiji sits in his usual chair, but doesn’t take out his books. He leans over and takes Shizuma’s hand, holding onto it and listening to his breathing. He isn’t sure how long he sits there, staring at him, but eventually Shizuma starts to stir. Lashes flutter before focusing on him, and Reiji feels his heart break at the smile he’s graced with.

He knew Shizuma could sense how he felt, he could feel it in the way the pink haired teen gripped his hand and Reiji forced himself to take a deep breath. It was a special connection they had, one that Shizuma had with very few people. As far as he knew, besides himself, Shizuma only really had the same emotional connection with Asuma. Even if they tried to hide their emotions or turn away, it was never hidden from him.

Which was why he was trying to give Reiji such a reassuring smile and he hated it. “Shizuma… I’m. I’m glad you’re awake now.” He said, clearing his throat. “Did you talk to the doctors?”

“… Yes. But I don’t remember what happened. They said I… I pushed you out of the way, and…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “I just remember feeling a lot of fear, and you calling for me.” He admitted as Reiji stared at him with wide eyes. “But they also said I probably… Won’t be able to walk again. I’ll have some therapy, to try and help.”

“And I’ll stay with you every step. I promise. I won’t leave you to do it alone.” Reiji’s voice was firm, and took Shizuma by surprise. He chuckled a little, the noise a bit pained and he nodded agreement. “… Good. Because I wasn’t going to give you a choice. This is my fault, you got hurt because of me, after all.”

“No, it was not your fault, Reiji. Please don’t blame yourself. They said it was an accident.” Shizuma whispered. He moved his hand, reaching up to touch Reiji’s cheek. He leaned into the fingers brushing over his skin before Shizuma let it drop back onto the bed. “…. You’ve got circled under your eyes. Please tell me you’ve been getting some rest.”

“… I try. But I was worried.” Reiji couldn’t lie, even if he looked away those grey eyes wouldn’t leave him, and Shizuma always figured it out anyways. Besides- he knew there were circles. He forced a smile of his own. “But now I can get some rest since you’re awake. When you start seeing the doctors to learn to walk I’ll be right here cheering you on too… And… And when you can walk again, I’ll start running. I’ll run faster than before. For both of us.” He promised.

“Reiji…” He whispered, swallowed. “… Well… There is other jobs in Stride. I’ll stay with you, while you do it.” Reiji could feel the tears well up, but he fought them back and simply nodded his head in agreement. There was a long moment of silence before Shiuzma’s fingers moved up again, brushing over his cheek and wiping away tears. So much for keeping them hidden, he thought.

“We’re going to be the best Stride team, Shizuma. You’ll see. Together, with Asuma.” Reiji promised, and leaned over to press a gentle kiss to the pale lips that still held a faint smile.

“Together.” Shizuma agreed. Reiji sat back, holding his hand as they enjoyed the silence only broken by the beeping machines until the nurse came to let him know visiting hours were over. Reiji promised to come back as soon as he could when he stood up to leave. Shizuma had a lot of healing to do, and he was going to be there every step of the way.

**Author's Note:**

> The Dancing Girl, by Mori Ogai is a story about two lovers, in which one choses their career over their feelings for their partner. I found it slightly fitting that Reiji would remember it so vividly falling to the ground, considering he decides to go with his feelings and supporting Shizuma, over just walking away from him.


End file.
